Taking Responsibility
by DolmaafAmlod
Summary: When Gilbert's father gets shot on his 15th birthday, his entire life turns upside down. Ten years later he is more or less taking care of his younger brother Ludwig while trying to keep both of them away from the streets. He has to face through corrupt bosses, snooping neighbours and worst off all, the past that still hunts him. But all turns for better when he meets a young man..
1. Chapter 1

**A/N So uh I have like four other stories to work on but I'm posting this instead to kill writersblock. Do you think I should keep working on this? On beforehand I'll just give you quick run-through of the names.**

**Rubert - Bavaria**

**Freddie - Saxony**

**Gilbert - Prussia**

**Hans - Gothic Tribes**

**Ludwig - HRE/Germany**

**Gerhart - Germania**

**Mrs. Weilschmidt - No one in particular.**

**Enjoy!**

Gilbert couldn't help the small smile that grazed his lips when he heard the quiet steps coming down the hall, muffled by the thick red carpet that decorated it. His gaze wandered to the other side of the room where his brother lay, staring right back. He winked at him. He heard his father whisper and his mother's soft voice whispered something in return. There was a quiet giggle from his youngest brother and a chuckle from his eldest. He shut his eyes a little tighter to pretend to be asleep and waited. The steps were nearing his door now and he had to suppress the excited giggle that were threatening to leave his mouth. He listened with a smile as his mother counted from five to one before the family broke out into poorly sung chorus.

Zum Geburtstag viel Glück,  
Zum Geburtstag viel Glück,  
Zum Geburtstag alles Gute,_  
Zum Geburtstag viel Glück_

With a wide grin, Gilbert opened his eyes and rolled over to face the smiling faces of his family. His mother was standing there in a satin-robe and a lightened cake in hands. She placed the cake on the desk and went over to kiss both brothers on the cheek and hug them tightly.

"Happy birthday my little babies." She said in an adoring voice.

Hans whined in protest but the smile on his face gave away that he clearly didn't mind. His father smiled warmly at them but his movements was limited by their youngest brother Ludwig who was smiling happily in his arms with a box clutched in his tiny fists. The next to congratulate them was their sister Freddie (in actual Elfriede) who hugged them both and showed a perfectly wrapped gift in their arms.

"Happy birthday kiddos." She muttered and ruffled their hair affectionately.

Gilbert smiled and instantly unwrapped the brightly colored paper and revealed a few books he had wished for. Hans had received something similar with the fantasy-series he was so fond of. They both thanked their sister and allowed Rubert to ruffle their hair and give them each a gift-card. That was all he could afford with his current job but Gilbert was grateful. It was his favorite store after all. Next, Ludwig was let down on the floor. The adorable four-year old trotted over to each bed and gave them a piece of paper shyly. Then he ran over to their father again. It was a poorly drawn picture but it didn't take an Einstein to figure out who the silver-haired stickman was supposed to be. A blonde little stickman was standing beside the silver one and there was a heart surrounding them and they look as happy as stickmen could be. Gilbert could feel his heart melt. Seeing as the boy was within reach he scooped him into the bed and hugged him tightly.

"Thanks Bruder!"

More gifts were brought and soon Gilbert was surrounded by gift-paper. He had gotten some more books, money from his uncle in New York, clothes, video-games, some more gift-cards and a new pair of sneakers since the previous ones were getting old. Finally it was only two gifts left. The gifts between the brothers and something that their father was hiding behind his back. Gilbert was first to get up and fetch a box in his closet. He pretended not to hear his mother's muttering about the chaos that was inside. He gave the box to his brother and smiled a little.

"Happy Birthday Bruder. Hope yah like it!"

Hans smiled back at him and opened the box. Moments later Gilbert was tackled in a hug.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" he yelled with the gift still in his grasp. In his hand was a plastic dragon baby that Gilbert had seen Hans staring at for months. It had taken plenty of his money but it was clearly worth it. While in the hug, his mother snuck out and fetched something that had been standing in the hallway. She came in again with something huge in her arms and with a red cloth covering it. Hans let go of his twin-brother and hurried over to take the gift.

"Happy Birthday bro"

He handed the gift to his brother who found that it seemed to be a cage of sorts. With a frown he placed it on the floor and pulled away the cloth. His scarlet eyes met tiny black ones, surrounded by yellow feathers. It was a small canary perched up on a stick in the cage. It gave away a happy tweet while Gilbert sat dumbfounded.

"Yeah, I know it's kinda lame, but that's the only pet mom would allow me to buy for you. I name him Gilbird cause he's your pet but it's totally cool if you wanna change to something more awesome…" Hans was cut off by a tight hug.

"You are the most awesome brother in the entire world!"

He heard their Vater chuckle in the background as he finally pulled out what was behind his back. It turned out to be two velvet boxes in a dark blue. He coughed awkwardly as he held the two out to them.

"I know it's perhaps not easy to be proud of your grandfather, but know that he was a good man and he wanted you two to have them."

He handed the two boxes and hugged his sons. Gilbert felt his voice catch in his throat as his eyes landed on the gift. Resting on a silk pillow lay an iron-cross and a silver chain.

"Your grandfather earned those in the war. He asked me to give them to you before he died."

With trembling fingers he raised the necklace carefully, as though it would shatter into pieces if he touched it too roughly, and placed it around his neck. It felt sort of heavy but he liked it. He shot a grin at Hans, who looked just as awesome, before directing the smile at his father.

"Danke Vati."

Mr. Weilschmidt smiled warmly at him and produced a final box from the pocket of his robe.

"I have one last gift for you which is only for you."

Gilbert's eyebrows shot up in surprise, why was he getting an extra gift. Hans smiled at him.

"Don't worry; he's already talked to me about it."

Gilbert accepted the box given to him and opened.

"It's empty?" he said in confusing and looked back at his father's smiling face.

"That's because I hadn't gotten the time to fetch it up yet. Look in the lid and you might find a hint."

Gilbert did as told and found a plectrum stuck to the carbon with tape. He looked up again in shock.

"You'll have a brand new guitar when you get back from school."

Gilbert's smile grew if possible even wider than before and he hugged the man tightly.

"You are the best dad ever!" he yelled out. Gerhart chuckled and hugged him back.

"Happy 15th birthday my son."

All was silent for a while until their mother finally looked at the time.

"Oh dear, you kids have to hurry and get to school!"

The peace was instantly broken and the rest of the family left for the time being.

Gilbert started rummaging through his boxes and pulled on a dark red hoody over a simple T-shirt. He smirked when he noticed that Hans had taken on an identical one in black. Hans smiled back at him and for a moment they just stood there with playful smiles on their faces.

"We look really alike today." Hans commented.

"Yeah, only difference is that you've died your hair black."

"Are you ready to take on the world today?"

"Only if you're with me."

Hans smiled warmly.

"Always."

The moment Hans had run of to his own friends Gilbert was tackled to the ground by his own two best friends. They tumbled to the ground and lay there laughing. People were staring, for sure, but nothing of that mattered to the trio.

"Happy Birthday amigo!" Antonio said once he had calmed down. He produced a small box from his backpack that turned out to be a CD with German music. Francis congratulated him as well and gave him a note-book with the Prussian bird on the front. Once they'd gotten up they headed for class during idle chatter. Eventually, Antonio's girlfriend Bella joined them but she didn't bother congratulating the German boy. This one detail didn't bother Gilbert much though because he was in a super-good mood.

"Excuse me, my name is Gerhart Weilschmidt, I was alerted that the guitar I ordered had arrived."

It was a dimly lit shop with instruments and CD's covering every available surface in the room and with a heavy smell of cigarettes. A girl dressed in a far too revealing shirt stood boredly at the desk and barely even glanced up at the man. She nonchalantly tapped on the old buzzing computer until she found what she was looking for.

"Yeah the special-ordered one. It's in." she said in a bored voice and stood slowly of the counter. She was back a moment later with Gerharts personal master-piece. The body was white while the neck was black with buds and strings in a silver-ish color. Painted on the back of it, the reason Gerhart felt so please with himself, was the black falcon that usually adorned the Prussian flag. His son loved Prussia and this would surely be an awesome gift. Carved into the wood was of course Gilbert's name in his own signature.

"Would that be all?" the girl asked.

Gerhart nodded and paid the girl before leaving quickly. He wanted to get home and give his son the present so he could enjoy for a while before his wife got home. In all honesty his wife hadn't been very happy when he told her what he was buying. She had wished for him to spend their money on gifts that they could actually have any use of in the future and stop encouraging such childish behavior. It saddened him a little that his wife couldn't see just how talented Gilbert was with the guitar and flute and see just how happy Hans was whenever dragons were involved. He'd just made it to his car and put the guitar in when he heard noises coming from an alleyway a little further on. For a moment he hesitated about the noises but then he heard screams and crying. He quickly locked the door of the car and hurried to the source of the noises. It was three men in the alley surrounding a terrified girl barely at the age of 15. The tallest of the men was gripping her wrist harshly and was currently trying to strip the poor girl with the other. The other two men laughed and constantly tried to grab her wherever he could reach. Tears were streaming down her face as she begged them to stop but that only made the men laugh harder.

"Let her go!"

It was the middle of their last class when a receptionist entered the class-room. She had a sad look on her face and she whispered a few things to the teacher. The teacher got a solemn look on his face and look up at the class.

"Mr. Weilschmidt, you are needed at the principal's office."

The solemn look gave Gilbert an uneasy feeling in his stomach and he left almost immediately. Francis and Antonio was soon behind. Principal Vargas, a friend of their father, was sitting at his desk as he entered along with Hans. The moment he entered, Hans hugged him and Gilbert could feel tears soaking his shirt. He held his trembling twin instantly and looked at Principal Vargas.

"What's going on?" he asked, fearing the worst.

Mr. Vargas had the same miserable look on his face as all others had had.

"Perhaps you two should sit down." He began carefully but Gilbert shook his head; he didn't want to sit down. Mr. Vargas sighed.

"I'm afraid that there has been an accident." The uneasy feeling in his stomach was just getting worse. "Your father, Gerhart, was unfortunately shot earlier today." He said gravely. The feeling was getting worse and Gilbert could feel the tears burning at the corner of his eyes. " He…" Mr. Vargas swallowed thickly. "He died instantly and the doctors doesn't think he was in any pain." It took Gilbert a moment to let the words sink in. What did he mean? Vati coulnd't be dead. He was supposed to be with him and watch him grow old and make a life. He buried his face in Hans' shoulder and for a long moment all he could do was cry with his brother.

"Your mother called and asked me to take you to the hospital, is that alright?" Mr. Vargas said kindly.

All Gilbert could do was nod through the tears. In that moment, his life took a new turn.

The funeral was all but a blur to Gilbert. Mostly he had sat with Hans in a corner while people he didn't recognize offered their comfort. People were making speeches about how great he was but it was only the one made by Rubert that sounded like it was about their father. Their mother barely wasted any attention upon the brothers as she was focused on other things. She had changed a lot towards Gilbert after their father's death. Ludwig was mostly at Freddie's side. The raining was falling hard outside and once the family was finally driving back home, it was hard to see the road. Hating the silence Gilbert turned on the radio. Rock filled the car but his mother instantly turned it off.

"Don't you think that it's a little disrespectful of you to be listening to demon's music on the day of your father's funeral?" she snapped angrily. Ludwig whimpered. His mother noticed and shot a glare at Gilbert. "And if you don't care about your own father then at least think of Ludwig. You're making him upset."

Rubert who was sitting next to his mother with his head to the cold window looked at it all tiredly.

"You're the one yelling Mutter. Gilbert just wanted to get rid of this awful silence."

His mother sent a sideway glare at her eldest son.

"So you're choosing, _him_, your father's _murderer, _instead of your own loving mother?"

Gilbert could feel the tears burning at his eyes again. Rubert glared back at the woman.

"Gilbert didn't do anything! Vater died, trying to protect an innocent girl. That has NOTHING to do with Gilbert!" he yelling back. Ludwig started crying at the loud noises and Mrs. Weilschmidt momentarily looked back.

"Look what you did, now you got Ludwig upset! Are you all intent on being like demons?"

"Demons?!" Rubert yelled angrily. "You're seriously calling your own son, a demon!"

"If it hadn't been for that ridiculous guitar, my husband would have been alive now!" she yelled angrily. "Do you hear that Hans? Your twin, is a mur…"

Suddenly Freddie screamed in terror as the sound of horns filled Gilbert's ears. The last thing Gilbert remembered before the car crashed into the truck was the words spoken that morning.

_"Are you ready to take on the world today?" _

_"Only if you're with me."_

_ "Always."_

**So, uh, should I continue?**


	2. Chapter 2 Introduction

**A/N Greetings from cold Sweden! So another chapter is up now and I hope you will enjoy. **

* * *

Four AM. A quiet part of the day where the city is all asleep. It's too early to get up and it's too late to stay out. Cold beams of sun is ever so slowly reaching out above it in its attempted to melt away the early morning frost. The sun reflects in every drop of water from last nights rain making the trees glisten like diamonds. A powdery mist is slowly rising as a sign to tell that the ground is getting warmed up by the beams of light. The warm light wakes up thousands of birds in the soon to be lively city and the rise to the still pink sky. In just an hour or so the bakers and truckdrivers would start heading for work and in another two hours children would be forced out of their warm bed for yet another year of school. But for now, all was quiet around. The swings hung empty, moving slightly in the mild breeze, the shopping mall was yet to be opened and hardly any cars drove past. All was silent, save for three men walking down an empty road.

"Mon ami, will you please slow down."

The albino, reffered to, none other than our dear main-character, Gilbert Hans Weilschmidt, ignored exactly what his friend had said to him and spead up further.

"Sorry, but I'm late as it is. If I would suddenly slow down as well, I might as well quit the damn thing.

Knowing he was right, his two friends spead up as well.

"Will you at least listen to us?" Francis begged in an exasperated tone.

"Only if you can keep up the pace!"

Replied Gilbert without looking at them. Antonio, who was having a hard time keeping up, stopped a moment before sprinting after.

"Amigo, Francis and I have been talking." He said after catching up again.

"Good for you. " he said non caringly.

"About you." Francis clarified.

Gilbert stopped for a moment.

"About me?"

Antonio sighed in relief for the chance of slowing down.

"Si."

Francis, being a little bit more sensitive elaborated.

"We want you to quit one of your jobs." he said calmly and continuing before Gilbert could protest. "Mon ami, you're working yourself to exhaution if you keep this up. And you've said yourself that you hate one of them. If you'd just let me lend you some money, you could calm down with one job."

Gilbert smiled a bitter smile.

"And what? Give up?" Francis was about to say something but Gilbert interupted. "Look, I'm alright. With my new job at the opera I'll be making a bunch of extra cash and everything will be better. I've got everything under controll."

Neither friend looked exactly convinced.

"Gilbert, where's Ludwig?"

Gilbert cursed under his breath before walking the same way they'd come from.

"I should have woken him before I left to make sure he was up for school. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck."

Antonio hurried after him and stopped him before he got too far.

"Don't worry about it amigo. I'll go there to check on him and you can just hurry of to work."

Gilbert looked like he was going to refuse the offer but finally sighed.

"Thank you buddy, I appreciate it."

"No worries." Antonio replied with a smile before bidding both friends goodbye. Gilbert and Francis started walking again.

"What are you going to say to your boss?" Francis asked.

Gilbert shrugged.  
"The truth I suppose. He somehow reads through every lie in the book."

Francis shot him a sympaphetic look just as the little cafeé came into view. The little sign reading *Onnellinen Silli* shining brightly with it's welcoming colors.

"I gotta go now, Francis." Gilbert said with a wave.

Francis nodded slightly.

"Goodbye mon ami." After walking a little bit he turned just as Gilbert was about to enter the shop.

"Oh and don't forget to ask for the day off on Saturday."

"Yeah Antonio's wedding, I wouldn't miss it for the world!"

They waved a final goodbye before Gilbert entered the shop with a pling.

"Your late!" a rather unpleasant looking woman said the moment he stepped inside. He hair was made in a bun and blue eyes glared behind square glasses. Gilbert swallowed.

"Sorry mam, I ran into some complications on the way."

The horrid woman pursed her lips in a sneer.

"That's what you say every morning." she said coldly. "And I've told you that if you can't get here in time you don't need to bother coming at all!"

Gilbert bit his lip. It was true that he'd been late resently due to oversleeping in the morning bu the needed the morning job to pay for food. All of the sudden there was a sweet giggle from the kitchen and a young man stepped out.  
"Äiti (mom)don't be so harsh on him. It's hard getting up so early in the morning."

The man was about Gilbert age with short blonde hair and dark blue eyes and a sweet smile.

"Goodmorning Gilbert. How are you doing?"

Gilbert smiled back weakly at him.

"Goodmorning mr Väinämöinen. Thank's I'm doing great."

Another great smile.

"That's good to hear. So we have a delivery arriving at 7 and I was hoping you could help unloading some of that before you're off today. Also until then the kitchen is an absolute mess since last night, I would have done it but Susan called and asked if we could meet and with her job, I just couldn't say no and…"

Gilbert raised his hand with a tired smile. He knew that the young finish boy had been having a slightly rough part in his relationship with his girlfriend Susan, a girl from Sweden who worked at the opera. With her complicated times he didn't judge Tino for wanting to see her when he had the chance.

"Don't worry about it Mr Väinämöinen, it'll be my thank you for not firering me."

Mrs Väinämöinen snorted.

"I honestly don't see why you don't. He's completely useless and always late!"

Tino gave her a resigned smile.

"Why don't we all get to work eh?"

Gilbert saluted with a smile to the finish boy and set to work.

* * *

His work at the café wasn't the best job but it could have been worse. Mostly he just did whatever Tino or his mother asked him to and in exchange Tino gave him something to eat on his way to his next work. When the clock struck 8 he put down the last box gathered his things.

"Gotta go now Tino." he called to the blonde who was just about to open up for the day. The Fin smiled warmly at him in return.

"Alright, good work today Gil!"

Just as he was about to leave, he turned again.

"Hey Tino? Could I have Saturday off? My friend is getting married to his girlfriend since high-school."

Tino's face lit up in excitement.

"Oh that's wonderfull! Don't worry about it, I'll keep it in check."

Gilbert smiled, glad to have Tino as a boss.

"Thanks, your the best! Give my regards to Susan next time you see her!"

Tino called goodbye back to him before the sounds of the cafe died down as he left.

* * *

It took him about ten minutes to get from the café to his second job at Brawang, a huge company in realestatement. It wasn't a very good job. In totall he worked eight hours in a cramped space doing paper-work that no one wanted to do for themselves. His boss Mr Braginsky was a complete psyco and Gilbert honestly pitied his poor Lithuanian assistant who put up with most of his ideas. Reaching the entrance he lazily greeted the very prety receptionist, Mei Wang who was unsurprisingly talking in the phone with one of her friends. She more or less ignored him as he entered so he just moved on. The first few hours went uneventfull but painfully boring. His back was aching and going up at three in the morning was finally getting to him. He was used to it though. He forced himself to supress a jawn and rubbed his eyes a little. It was nearing three which meant he had three hours to go.

_Weilschmidt, I need you in my office._

That was the unmistakable voice of Braginsky. Shit. Gilbert restisted the urge to curse out in frustration as he got up and headed for his boss' office. Braginsky's office was huge and painted in an unsettling purpe colour. There were sunflowers on about every free area and in a black leather chair, sat none other than Ivan Braginsky with a creepy smile on his face.

"Sit, da?"

Forcing down the unsettling feeling in his gut, Gilbert did as told. He'd never actually been with the guy face to face but he'd heard what he could do.

"You've been working here for ten years, da?" he asked with a tilt of his head. "

Gilbert nodded, he'd gotten the job, not more than two months after the death of his family. He'd droped out of school and started at the bottom of Brawang in order to provide for himself and Ludwig. They'd stayed stayed with their uncle until Gilbert was 18 before they were kicked out and their uncle took all the money he'd inherited. Fortunately the money he got from Brawang was enough to get them to the city and get the cheapest apartment available. His job wasn't enough for long though and so he'd gotten the job at the café. Now as Ludwig was starting highschool he felt the need to get some money to at least buy his brother a phone and a computer. So he'd gotten a job at the opera.

"Yes sir, I have."

Mr Braginsky smiled.

"Do you like it here?"

"Yes sir." Gilbert lied. He couldn't really admit how much he detested getting out of bed just by the thought of going to this sucky job.

"Good. I had an argument with my wife last night."

"Oh?" Gilbert asked awkwardly. Braginsky's wife, Yao was the other owner of Brawang and known for his feminine reactions to things but he'd never thought the two fought.

"Da, Yao-Yao sent me to the couch and wouldn't let me sleep with him."

"Okay…" Gilbert said uneasily.

"Yao-Yao thinks I'm too mean to my employees."

Gilbert was running out of unsure polite things to say.

"So I decided to be nice and raise you salary." Braginsky said brightly.

Gilbert blinked in surprise.

"A raise?" he asked in surprise. A billion of thoughts ran through his mind of all the things he could do with some extra cash. He could get a bike, perhaps some new stuff for Ludwig. Then a finall thought entered.

"What's the catch?"

Ivan giggled childishly and swirled around in his chair.

"Let's not talk about that right now. All you need to know now is that you start an hour later than usual and get more paid. I'll call you in if something comes up. Good bye."

Gilbert got up as if in a haze and bid his boss goodbye. He worked as usual but his minds were still on the raise. He was given a raise but at what price? Would it make any greater difference? Before he knew it the clock struck six and Gilbert gathered his things. He still had a last job to get to before he could get home to his brother. He waved a lazy goodbye to Mei-Mei at the desk who was still talking on the phone. A light drizzle fell on his head as he stepped outside and made his way to Hetalia Opera.

**A/N So there you have it. If there's anything you wonder just let me know. **


	3. Chapter 3 Hetalia Opera

**A/N Jay! New chapter! I'm sorry I suck at updating but in my defense I have a lot of school to get done. Please Review!**

The Hetalian Opera had been standing where it was right now for nearly 300 years. It was a large building decorated finely with pillars and high glass windows. On top of the entrance stood 9 marble statues representing the muses. In front of the building stood an equally beutiful fountain with, pegasuses, centaurs, satyrs and dryads dancing around in the chrystal clear water. It was like an image of ancient romes mythology. The only thing strange about the fountain were the two dryads at the center, seemingly both female holding each other closely and almost intimately. It had been a great debate about it but the owner of the opera had assured that they were a mother and a daughter.

The inside was just as astounding. Chandaliers hung from the cieling and it's electric light sent the entire foye into a golden glow. Hetalian Operan had been one of the first to install electricity and even though at the time, only the richest people could even enter the building those who couldn't still ventured outside the gates only to get a glimpse of that mysterious electric light. Quite a lot of statues were on the inside as well, all portraying different mythological creatures and gods. The critiques had always wondered if the founder didn't have a sickly obsession to the ancient coulture but as the opera was one of the most beautiful ever sighted they let it pass.

"Hey can I help you?" Gilbert twirled around. He was so lost in admiration for the building that he hadn't noticed someone approaching. He was a tall blonde man with a bright smile on his face and dressed in a blue overall.

"I don't know." Gilbert admited. "I was supposed to start of as janitor today but I'm not sure where to go."

The guy's smile widened.

"Awesome! You're my new coworker! I'm Matthias!" the man said, extending his hand towards the albino.

"Gilbert." He responded with a slight smile of his own.

Matthias' smile only widened for some reason.

"Come on I'll show you around!"

"Shouldn't I be meeting my boss?" Gilbert asked hessitantly.

"Be grateful you don't!" Matthias said, laughing. "Don't get me wrong the dude is awesome, but he's mostly busy with the orchestra and his wife is a bitch so you don't want to meet her before neccesary. "

Before Gilbert again he'd pushed into a small room filled with cleaning equipment. For a moment Gilbert's instinct told him grab whatever he could think of and knock the guy out cold, he had been growing up with Francis afterall, but then he noticed Matthias handling him a blue overall as well.

"Mrs Oldman's order." Matthias explained. "We can't really look like we are as much worth as others, now can we?" he said with a sarcastic smile.

"JANITOR!"

I shrill voice yelled suddenly causing Matthias to cringe.

"I guess I should introduce you to the landlady."

The two men found Mrs Oldman standing in the foye looking more like an angry pitbull rather than a woman.

"Yes Mrs Oldman. Is something wrong?" Matthias asked with a polite smile.

The woman only sneered at him before her eyes landed disdainfully on Gilbert.

"I see you met our seconds janitor." she said with a wrinkled nose. "Good then you can get right to work. Someone made a mess in the kitchen and it needs to be cleaned up." She turned to Gilbert with a sneer. "And in the future I expect you to be on time. My husband only hired you because he pittied you but if you screw I'll have you fired before you can count to ten. Understood?"

Gilbert nodded, trying his best not to gag from just looking at the woman. With another sneer the woman and left and Gilbert was led first back to the closet and then to a room at the back of the theatre. The room, which he assumed was supposed to be a kitchen, looked like a tornado had past through it followed by a bomb.

"What the hell happened in here?" he asked while coughing from the heavy smoke in the room.

Matthias just laughed.

"Seems like someone upset Arthur again."

That was about as informative to Gilbert as it'd been if he'd said it in Latin.

With a lazy shrug Matthias grabbed a cloth and some liquid and tossed them to Gilbert.

"How about I'll start on the floor and you try and see if it's possible to get the counters white again? This is gonna take a while."

Gilbert grinned at Matthias. Looking at the walls there was no chance in the world to tell what color the walls were but neither had the walls in his appartment been before Ludwig got in charge of the cleaning.

"Bro, I'll make the counters whiter than a dragon's teeth."

In the end it had a slightly yellow color to it and there was a splotch that he couldn't get rid of but other than that, the kitchen looked fine. Matthias shot him a grin.

"Well done! You're a natural."

They started gathering all equipment again and after shooting a glance at the watch they gathered that they should get started on the rest.

"So why did you take a job as janitor?" Matthias asked, feeling bored from the silence around them.

"I could ask you the same," Gilbert countered. Matthias had proved perfetly well that he was clever enough to get a decent job if he wanted to. "I'm just here because I need the cash."

Matthias grinned, he tended to do that a lot.

"I remember when I cared about money." he said airily. "Now a days I just come here for the view!"

Gilbert stared at the other man.

"The view? Don't you care in the least about paying rents or getting something to eat for you family?"

Matthias laughed.  
"I haven't been paying rents for 6 months. The money I get on this job is enough to get me a meal once a day at McDonalds. I'm not saying it's a good life-style but it's good enough for me."

Still he was smiling even though his life seemed to be far worse than even Gilbert's. At least he could present a home and food for his brother.

"So where do you live then?" Gilbert asked, more to get rid of the silence than anything else. Matthias shrugged.

"Yah, know. Around and stuff. I try to stay on the move just in case something would come up."

"Something would come up?" Gilbert questioned doubtfully. In a way he admired Matthias optimism but at the same time he wondered if Matthias might be a little slow in the head.

"Come one I'll show you!" Before Gilbert could protest Matthias had grabbed his wrist and pulled him up a bunch of stairs. They ended up at one of the balconies facing the stage. Beneath them on the stage the band was getting ready to play but the dirigent seemed to be missing. Curiously Gilbert scanned the crowd bellow. It was a mixed bunch of people ranging from more southern looking people to pale blondes who couldn't possibly be American. He even noticed some creepy guy with a white mask covering his eyes.

"Quite the view, don't you think?" Matthias said dreamily with a soft smile on his features.

Gilbert gazed around the auditorium for a moment. It truly was a beautiful place but Matthias' gaze wasn't on the beautiful paintings in the roof but on the stage, or rather on the people on the stage.

Gilbert shot him a half grin.

"Don't tell me your living in the streets with a crappy job because of some girl?"

Matthias chuckled.

"It's more than that. Do you see the blonde guy with the violin? The one with a blue shirt."

Gilbert easily found who he was speaking of. The boy was fairly short but indeed good looking. He had short blonde hair with bangs falling into his face and a bored expression on his features.

"He's beautiful don't you think?" he said softly. "I've been coming up here for almost three years now just to watch him play for an hour or so."

It was strange seeing him so calm after dealing his usual cherry mood for a few hours.

"Have you ever talked to him?"

"Once but Lukas is extremely uncomfortable with people so I just stay around so he can get used to my precense."

Gilbert couldn't help but stare again. This man was seriously mental. If all you got to do was watch someone from afar how the hell could he speak so fondly of him? His brooding was interrupted by footsteps comming down the line of seats.

"Alright! The break is over! Is everyone here?" A male voice asked.

As he got closer to the stage Gilbert could make out long blonde hair in a pony-tail and fancy clothes.

"That's Old Man Fritz." Matthias whispered. "He's the big guy around here."

As to answer the mans question a fairly tall blonde boy with glasses and curly hair raised his hand.

"Alfred and Arthur are still missing." he informed to which Fritz heaved a sigh.

"Does this has anything to do with the mess in the kitchen?"

The was a gathered mumble and Fritz sighed again.

"There is no way of knowing when he will be back so we might as well start without them. From the top of page four!" he announced and it seemed as everyone understood what he meant included Matthias. After a moment of shuffling the music began. It was soft and beautiful with a hint of melancholia from the violins. The brasses sounded lowly in the background and blended in perfectly with the piano. Even so it felt like something was missing. Gilbert scanned the crowd curiously. Something was missing. The beautiful music was suddenly interruted by a door slamming open and the heavy sound of stiletoes. After a moment he could see Mrs. Oldman walking down the aisle briskly pulling one boy by the air on each side. Both boys were blonde but the one to the right was slightly taller.

"Frederick!" the lady said sharply.

The man turned and Gilbert got a slightly better view of what he looked like. From distance he looked to be perhaps around 30 give or take and rather handsome to be honest.

"Dearest is there a reason distrubing the rehearsal?"

"I found these two in the cleaning closet." She let go of the two boys and pushed them forwards.

Matthias smiled next to me.

"I always keep it unlocked during rehearsal hours in case someone would need it. "

Gilbert watched as the married couple conversed and the boys stumbled up on the stage the taller with a protective arms around the shorter.

"Is it that hard to just hire profesionals?" the woman snarled.

"I've told you this a thousand times over dearest. Feel free to worry as much as you want about the rest of the opera but leave the orchestra to me."

Mrs. Oldman muttered something else before stomping of. The moment the door slammed shut Fritz turned to the couple from before.

"Is it that hard to wait until you get home? I'm sure it's better for your backs as well."

Even from here you could see the shorter blushing. The taller laughed.

"Come one Fritz! We weren't even doing anything this time! Artie was upset so I comforted him!"

"Shut up, I wasn't upset!" the 'Artie'.

The taller responded by kissing his temple.

"Of course you weren't honey."

"Enough of this." Fritz finally said. "Let's take it again from the top!"

There was a gathered mumble of agreement before pages were turned and instruments put ready. Soon the room was yet again filled with music but a frown remained on Gilbert's features. There was something missing.

"Bye Gilbert." Matthias called as they headed in different directions.

"See you tomorrow." Gilbert called back. It was nearing 10 in the evening and Gilbert was close to colaps. Fortunately he could walk the way and be home before elven. It had been a long day but to be honest it could have been worse. Matthias had really made things more bearable. It was with a relieved sigh that he entered the his apartment. There was a plate of food left on the table for him with a note and books spread about the table. It seemd like Ludwig already was working on homework. Gilbird who was sitting in his cage in the corner of the small room chirped happily at his arrival.

"Hey Birdie. Did yah miss me today?"

The bird only chirped in reply but it was good enough for Gilbert. He walked over to the table and read the note with a small smile on his lips. Every night that Gilbert worked late Ludwig would write him a little not before going to bed. They would be short but warming.

_Welcome home Bruder._

_I hope you had a good day at work today._

_I left som mashed potates and wurst for you if you're hungry._

_School was fine today. _

_We have a new student in class._

_His name is Feliciano Vargas. _

_He's annoying. _

_Goodnight Bruder._

_Ich liebe dich._

_/ Ludwig _

_PS. You should call Francis. He's been calling all day and he sounded really worried. _

With a slight frown tugging on his lips he walked over to the phone on the wall and dialed the all too familiar number.

_Beep Beep_

_Beep Beep_

"_Gilbert? Is that you? Thank god you're home."_

"Francis what's up? Gilbert asked in worry. It wasn't like Francis to worry over nothing.

The other man sounded almost on the verge of tears.

"_Bella called of the wedding." _He announced.

"She what?" Gilbert almost yelled bu the stopped himself remembering Ludwig sleeping in the other room.

"_That's not all mon ami." _Francis said making Gilbert's stomach churn unpleasantly.

"Francis, what happened?" Gilbert demanded.

For a moment Francis didn't answer. During that time Gilbert could make out a beeping sound in the background that sounded almost like…

"Antonio tried to kill himself, didn't he?"

A moment of deathly silence.

"_Oui, and he almost suceeded."_


	4. Chapter 4

**Key faithfull readers. With a lot going on in school and generally lack of inspiration I will be putting all my work on ice until I can catch up on life again. Don't worry I ****_will_********continue all of my stories but apparently I'm not very good at working under pressure so I'm going to finish it first before I post it. Feel free to send a review if you like my stories and also if you have suggestions for any other good fan fictions. Take care / DolmaafAmlod **


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